Signs: A New Kind Of Normal
by SweetBerries
Summary: Things start to change around the Hess family..making each of them learn to accept the new types of normal their lives will now be.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any characters or plot lines relating to Signs..although I would love to! 

Please enjoy the first chapter..read and review. Thanks.

**MORGAN**  
I walked down the stairs slowly, taking in the scene around me. Bo was with Uncle Merrill on the floor, their backs against the couch as they played connect four. Bo put in her last red chip to make a sequence and squealed in delight as she won. Uncle Merrill joined in the laughter. I smiled to himself. I loved seeing everyone happy. My hand graced the end of the banister and I turned to go into the kitchen. As I got closer, I could heard my dad singing to the radio, softly, and I remembered this as something he used to do when mom was still alive. It was an old tune he sang to, nothing new. But it sounded amazing. He was cooking pancakes, raspberry to be exact. I smelled it the second I had started to walk down the stairs.

"Good morning." Dad said , dishrag on shoulder, as he gracefully maneuvered around the kitchen. He continued, without missing a beat it seemed, with his song. I took a seat at the set table, enjoying what I was seeing. It did seem a little too corny, but it was leaving me with a feeling inside of me that I couldn't quite explain just right. I was happy, yet it didn't seem real. It had only been a month. And it was hard to realize that things would never really be the same again. Yes, dad was back at the church, Uncle Merrill was working at the gas station, and Bo and I were done with school. But things didn't seem like they would get into any type of routine anytime soon.

It was the first summer Sunday, and although things seemed too good to be true, I was going to embrace the day. My dad came over to me, still singing, and placed a pancake onto the plate in front of me. I smiled at him and as he continued singing, he smiled back. Bo and Uncle Merrill came into the kitchen, both taking seats across the table. "Daddy, I won all four games!" Bo sang happily.

"That's wonderful Bo." He said. He had stopped singing, but he was still smiling. He took three glasses from the cupboard and filled them with water. He compulsively line them up in front of her.

"I didn't even let her win! That girl keeps getting smarter and smarter. She's a very observant person." Merrill took a napkin from the stack at the middle of the table and placed it near his plate.

"What's observant?" Bo asked. We all laughed.

"It means you notice things other people don't notice. You might look at a picture and see things no one else really sees. The things are there, but the other people just don't see them." I tried to explain it to her in simplest terms. She sat for a second, made a face, and nodded that she understood. Dad went back to the stove and started to whistle to the next tune on the radio.

Bo reached for a glass of water with both hands, and took a quick sip. She placed it on the table and wiped her mouth with her arm. I watched her as she went for more water from the same glass. So did Uncle Merrill. Dad had turned around to give her a pancake and was unaware of what was happening. He continued to whistle. Uncle Merrill and me just looked at each other and as dad went to give Uncle Merrill his pancake, he stopped whistling.

"What's wrong?" He looked at us concerned.

"Nothing." I said, and I took a slice of butter and spread it around my pancake. Dad went back to whistling, and continued to make more pancakes. I eyed Bo the entire time, and noticed how after a while she moved right on to the next glass.

"Daddy, I'm done with this glass." She said proudly, pointing to it. Dad had just sat down with his pancakes. He looked at her as she grabbed the next glass and began to drink. She put the glass down and licked her lips. We all looked at her. My dad took a sip from his water. I took one from mine, and Uncle Merrill followed suit. The water tasted like it always had. But then why did each glass taste fine to Bo..

"Bo, does the water taste funny to you?" Dad said. He looked at her funny.

"No, it tastes fine." She grabbed the glass again and took a long sip.

"Can you take a sip of the third glass and tell me how it tastes?" I didn't quite know what dad was doing. Obviously Bo didn't think the water tasted funny. I mean, she usually she came up with random excuses, all meaning the same thing. She picked up the glass and took a sip.

"It tastes fine, just like the other two." She continued her meal like nothing was happening, and speared one of the last pieces of pancake on her plate with her fork and placed it into her mouth. Things seemed to be returning to a normal I had never known. Since when does Bo not go crazy over her water? Little did I know that that was not the only thing that was about to change.


	2. Bee Stings

MORGAN "Don't move Bo." There was a bee on her shoulder, and she was eyeing it, trying to stay still in the process. Tears rolled down her eyes and she began to whimper.

"Morgan, get it off!" She cried. 

"I said not to move Bo." She stayed as still as she could, but eyeing the bee wasn't doing her any good. "And don't look at it." But then I thought, maybe she should, unless it came at her. But then it could sting her in the face.

"What if I don't see it and it comes at me Morgan!" She yelled. The bee moved in a circle on her shoulder and I could see she wasn't taking it well. I had to get the bee away from her, or she would get stung. All of her movements were making it mad, and it started to move itself, slowly down her arm. I bent down and picked up a stick from nearby. I walked towards her with it cautiously, hoping the bee would fly away before I got within two feet of her. I got closer to her and the stick pushed it away from her shoulder just as dad came out of the house with food for the grill. The bee flew up and I dropped the stick. Bo ran towards my dad, hysterical. I began to walk towards my dad to explain what had happened. He bent down and picked up Bo. He placed her on his hip and tried to calm her down.

"It tired to get me!" Bo cried loudly. She sobbed again and by that time, Uncle Merrill had come outside.

"What's all the yelling?" Uncle Merrill said, confused.

"Morgan poked her with a stick." Graham said. "Morgan, what were you thinking?" He was outraged, as any father would be if they saw their older child poking the younger one with a stick. But I didn't just poke her for no reason at all. I had to get the bee to go away.

"Dad, there was a bee on her." I said in defense as I got closer. "I didn't want her to get stung, so I tried to ward it off because we had waited at least five minutes and it wouldn't come off of her." What I didn't know was that the bee had actually followed me. It landed itself right on my elbow. I swatted at my arm rapidly, thinking it was just a fly, but then I saw that it landed on my arm and I suddenly felt intense pain. It had stung me. 

"Shit. I'll get his medicine." Uncle Merrill said and he quickly ran for the house. I looked at my arm, hoping the stinger wasn't there. I couldn't really see anything though, because the pain was so intense that it made my eyes tear. My dad probably thought I was crying. But I wasn't. All I can say is that this sting hurt more than the last bee sting did. A lot more. 


	3. Nice To Meet You

Chapter 3 

GRAHAM  
"Merrill!" I yelled. "He's not allergic to bees!" I put Bo down as I rushed to him. Morgan was panicking. "It's only a sting honey, you'll be fine." I tried to persuade him and ushered him to the picnic table so I could see if the stinger was still there. I checked the sting for a stinger and saw none. Merrill came darting out of the house with Morgan's inhaler and epinephrine shot.

"Here." Merrill said handing them to me. He was panicked himself, and looked scared out of his mind.

"He's not allergic to bees." I chuckled. I don't know why I found it funny. Maybe because it was the one thing he wasn't allergic to. Merrill must have thought I was crazy.

"But it's swelling up." Merrill said to me, taking a look at it.

"That's normal." I said. "He's fine." I looked at Morgan. He was looking at his arm, and I could tell he was in pain. "Come on, we'll go inside and put some ice on it." He got up and I wordlessly ushered him into the house.

"Here." Merrill handed me Morgan's medicines. I put them in my jean shirt pocket. "Are you in the mood for ice cream Bo?" She nodded happily and smiled. "I'll bring back some for you and Morgan. Vanilla with sprinkles for him, and strawberry for you, right?"

"Yeah. That's fine. Thanks." I took a ten out of my back pocket and handed it to Merrill who handed it back. I placed it into my pocket again.

"My treat." He smiled, picked up Bo, and walked around to the front of the house. Morgan and me went up the back steps. As I went to the freezer to get some ice, he went straight to the living room. I put some ice in a plastic bag and grabbed the dishtowel on the oven handle. When I reached the living room, I handed Morgan the ice. He didn't look too good. His face was all pale and he looked exhausted. I stared at him for a few seconds. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just really tired." He placed the ice on his arm and lowered himself down onto the couch slowly. "I'm going to take a nap." And he did. I walked back to the kitchen, hoping I could start the dishes. But I couldn't. I was worried about Morgan. Not because he didn't look good. But because lately he had been so out of it. He was usually the observant one, pointing things out and being on alert. But after the attacks, he quieted down. Morgan was no longer open with me. He seemed to have secrets. Maybe he was just growing up. Starting to like girls, starting to realize who he was. I didn't really like it. Maybe if Colleen was here, it wouldn't seem so sudden. She would know what to do. What to say to him. I missed her so much. For a moment I felt like I was going to fall, so I grabbed the chair in front of me. I had gotten a bit dizzy, which usually happened when I thought of Colleen now. Thinking of her made me lose my balance, my breath, and made me feel like I was going to see stars. I gripped the chair harder as I battled against tears. I had to close my eyes. Just relax. Take a deep breath. Don't cry. There's no reason to cry. That's it. My hands loosened their grip on the chair, and I trusted myself enough to walk around the kitchen and start the dishes. Just as soon as I had grabbed the sponge, there was a knock on my door. I walked towards it, only to see a woman I didn't recognize. She was young, and her hair was a sandy color. She was thin, not too short, but not tall. I smiled and opened the screen door. "Hello, can I help you?" Her eyes stood out next, being a bright blue.

"Yes, my name is Linda Janison and I couldn't help notice that you have a large piece of land down the road from your house. This is going to sound really weird, but I am planning on buying some land to build a house on. There was a sign over there, but the number was blurry and smeared. Do you know if it is still for sale, and who would be able to tell me about it?" She was holding a newspaper in her hand.

"Actually, this may sound even weirder, but yes, I do. My name is Graham by the way. Graham Hess." I put my hand out for her to shake it. I was smiling. Maybe because she had nice strawberry blonde hair and the nicest blue eyes. I wasn't interested in her, but she seemed so sweet. Her maroon top and regular jeans gave me the impression that she was telling the truth. "Do you want to come in for some lemonade or something? I have to find Carl Markinson's number. Carl owns the land." I was hoping she would come in. She was a nice lady, it seemed. She was alone too. Well, alone shopping for land.

"Lemonade sounds great." she smiled and took the door from me as she followed me into the house. "Oh my goodness, your house is gorgeous!" She looked around in wonder. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she whispered. I turned around to look at her, wondering why she said sorry. "Your son is sleeping, I didn't know." She pointed to him and quietly laughed to herself.

"That's my son Morgan. My daughter Bo is out with my brother Merrill for ice cream. They should be back soon. Anyways, take a seat and I will get you some lemonade." I poured each of us a glass and headed for my phone book.

"What's your wife's name?" She said, taking a sip of her lemonade. I kind of paused for a moment, about to feel as I had before all over again. I stopped myself and then started to flip through my phone book. Why did she want to know about Colleen?

"Colleen." My voice cracked.

"Is she out shopping? I'd love to meet her."

"She's no longer with us." I kept flipping pages.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bring it up." she said, and seemed to feel so guilty about bringing it up that she stopped talking. I found the number and took the book to the table she was at.

"Here it is, I just need a piece of paper and a pen." I said, going through my pockets. I took out Morgan's medicine and shot and placed them on the table. They had been weighing my shirt down. Linda looked at me funny. I laughed to myself aloud, probably looking like an idiot. "My son is asthmatic. We thought he needed his medicine before. But he's alright."

"Are you sure? Because I'm a nurse, if you want me to check on him." She said.

"He's fine, just got stung by a bee is all. Thank you though. That's very kind of you." I looked through my phone book and found an old paper. She handed me a pen from her purse. I tore the paper in half and wrote Carl's number on the back. "Here. Do you want my number too?" Whoa, where did that come from? My number?

"Um, sure." She smiled.

"So, why do you want to move here?" I asked.

"Well, I used to live in New York city. I loved it there, but then we were attacked, it was too much chaos. So I decided to move out here. It's quieter and much simpler. Plus I got offered a job at the hospital. I also think that it's a good time to move out of my parent's house. Seeing as I planned to move out as soon as I graduated from college. But that was two years ago. And I'm rambling. I'm so sorry." Her cheeks turned a dark red chrisom and she laughed.

"Oh no, it's alright." I chuckled.

"Dad?" It was Morgan, and he was walking into the kitchen holding his bag of ice and dishtowel.

"This is your son Morgan, right?" Linda said.

"Yes, it is. Morgan, this is Linda, she might build a house down the street on the land there." I tried to explain. I didn't want him to think I was dating women or looking into any. That would crush him. And I wasn't ready for anyone else yet. I didn't think I ever would. Besides, she was Merrill's age. Morgan looked at me funny. Probably thinking the wrong thing.

"I just came to ask for the number for Mr. Markinson." She turned her attention to the door as Merrill was walking up the steps, Bo on his hip and a white paper bag in his hand.

"Hello." He said as he put Bo down. But the hello wasn't towards me. It was towards Linda. He slowly came up and looked straight at her. Oh yeah, he was in love. I quickly glanced at my watch. It was almost five. "Here's the ice cream." He handed her the bag. She then handed it to me. I placed it on the table and Morgan went for it, taking out his cup and a spoon.

"This is Linda Janison. She wants to buy Carl's land down the street. Linda, this is my brother Merrill." Silence filled the room. Merrill extended his hand to Linda. She grabbed his hand and they shook. She smiled. "She's a nurse and she is moving from New York." I added.

"Well it's nice to meet you Linda." He said, finally letting go of her hand.

"It was nice to meet you too." She seemed stuck in the moment too.

"Daddy, I want my ice cream." Bo said quietly. Linda laughed, coming out of the moment. She squatted down and looked at Bo.

"Is this your daughter?" She said.

"Yes, that's Bo."

"Oh she is so adorable!" Linda squealed with delight. Bo walked up to the table and took her cup of ice cream as well as a spoon.

"Dad, when are we going to Aunt Cary's and Uncle James's house?" Morgan said.

"We leave tomorrow." He turned towards Linda. We're staying for the fourth of July. They live out on Long Island, in New York."

"That's a trip." She said, smiling at Merrill. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have to go. It's a trip back to the city and I have work tomorrow. Thank you so much for the number. And the lemonade, it was very kind. It was nice meeting all of you. I'll see you around. Bye." She got up from her chair, waved, and walked out the door with the paper in her hand.

"Alright guys, here's the plan for tonight. I want you to eat your ice cream and then we will go upstairs and pack. After we all pack I will cook dinner. We leave at six tomorrow morning. We should be there by nine thirty. Alright, lets get moving." I opened the white bag, took out my ice cream and grabbed a spoon. One mouthful of the strawberry goodness and I was gone.


End file.
